Pogacar signs off his Classics campaign winning Liege-Bastogne-Liege for a fourth time

 

What now for world champion Tadej Pogacar after his breath-taking lone escape to wrap up his Spring Classics campaign on Sunday, with his fourth  victory and third consecutive win in Liege-Bastogne-Liege in the tough Belgian Ardennes?

It was the fastest ever L-B-L, 44kph for 260km and accumulated 4 000 metres of climbing.

But he would taste a rare defeat at the Tour of Romandie two days later!

First of all, a look at his successful (mostly) Spring Classics campaign.

From five races ridden he won four, beginning with Strada Bianchi which although not a classic (yet) set the tone for what was to come, in the four Spring Monuments: lst in Milan San Remo, 1^st Tour of Flanders, 2^nd Paris-Roubaix and 1^st Liege-Bastogne-Liege.

Oh no, cry those weary of these demonstrations of supremacy, who dare to say his masterful display  has become "boring", who long for the other “great” names to at least hold his wheel and maybe, maybe, beat the boy wonder on the line.

But do not despair, for if the old guard cannot raise their game (with the exception of Wout Van Aert who beat him in Paris-Roubaix) a new name has burst clear of their jaded ranks to challenge Pogacar.

This is of course the young French hope Paul Seixas, the 19-year-old who stayed with Pogacar in Liege-Bastogne-Liege when he attacked clear of the field on the Cote de la Redoute with some 34km to go. He withstood the forced pace set by Pogacar, but eventually gave best on half-way up the Cote de la Roche-aux-Faucons with 14km to go to take a fine second place.

 

Before this he made the headlines winning Fleche Wallonne the week before, atop the feared Mur de Hoy.

For me, I still delight in watching Pogacar set about routinely giving the rest a pasting, waiting with bated breath for his attack after his UAE team have set the pace.

Waiting for the moment when Pogacar surges ahead with apparent ease. And watching, hoping in the name of competition, that someone will go with him. They may do for a few hundred yards, before imploding under a pace too fast for them. And then I watch in wonder as Pogacar surges ahead.

There will be still a long way to go, that’s what grabs us, raises the pulse of us sofa watchers. So we may be disappointed top name rivals fail to hold him, but equally we can but marvel at the seeming ease, the speed, of this phenomena powering away as if drawn by some invisible force.  

But he didn’t have it all his own way in Paris-Roubaix when Belgian star Wout van Aert beat him in the sprint finish to deny Pogacar one of his two main aims this Spring.

Those aims, he said, were to win the two Monuments that had so far eluded him, Milan San Remo the opening classic in March which he nailed this time, narrowly beating Britain’s Tom Pidcock; and then the notoriously tough cobbled classic Paris – Roubaix in April where Van Aert denied him a most coveted victory.

That race was run off at an unbelievable 51kph, in the record time of 5 hours 16 minutes and 52 seconds for the 258 kilometres including some 30 sections (some 55km) of the dreaded cobbles.

I recall a TV commentator, a former pro, remarking how the heavier Van Aert was more adept than Pogacar at cornering, of choosing the right line over the roughest cobbles of this, the most challenging of all the classics. Perhaps this cost  the lightweight Pogacar energy?

And in this edition all the favourites suffered delays and/or falls due to mechanicals, sapping their strength, and clearly Pogacar this time lacked fire power when needed the most.

The week before Roubaix, on cobbles not so rough, Pogacar had won his third Tour of Flanders leaving the field for dead and finally dropping Van der Poel on the second and final ascent of the cobbled Oude Kwaremont.

So Pog as now won 13 Monuments. Still some way to go to equal Eddy Merckx on 19!

What next?

The focus now turns to stage races and this week Pogacar started the Tour of Romandie on Tuesday where, surprise, surprise, despite looking as fast as ever, he could only finish sixth in the short prologue time trial. He conceded seven seconds to French winner Dorian Godon of INEOS on the 3.5km course.

And UAE teammate Ovo Olivera also beat his boss, taking third!

I read the day previously Pogacar had a brand new lighter time trial bike!

So - he is HUMAN….afterall. A two day break after Liege wasn’t enough for recovery, if you ask me. We must remember he has only had five racing outings this season.

Nevertheless, let history name the five men who can now boast that in Romandie, they had the beating of Pogacar by a few seconds.

And here they are: Dorian Godon (INEOS), winner; 2, Jacob Soderqvist (Lidl-Trek); 3, Ovo Olivera (UAE); 4, Mauro Schmid (Jayco-Alula); 5, Axel Zingle (Visma Lease-a-Bike); 6, Tadej Pogacar (UAE).

 

 

Van Aert denies Pogacar in gruelling Paris-Roubaix

 

“NEVER SAY DIE” that could be Wout Van Aert’s motto following the Belgian’s terrific victory in the fastest ever edition of the cobbled classic Paris – Roubaix on Sunday,  dishing out a rare defeat to world champion Tadej Pogacar,  outsprinted on the line.

The race was run off at 51kph,in  the record time of 5 hours 16 minutes and 52 seconds for the 258 kilometres, after dishing out mechanical problems to one and all.

Belgian Jasper Stuyven was third as three times winner Mathieu Van der Poel, the joint favourite with Pogacar, struggled in fourth, one of many to lose out.

Victory was sweet for Van Aert so often denied by falls and injuries and punctures. He has nevertheless remained steadfast, has never given up,  overcoming such setbacks to land memorable victories, with the exception of those races in which Pogacar has held an unassailable position ahead of him and everyone else. 

Until this day when fate levelled the playing field with extraordinary ruthlessness which saw the expected punctures and falls extended to include all

the favourites  halted during the course of the day.

We saw some famous names stopped at the roadside waiting for assistance before pulling out all the stops to  clawback lost time in the choking dust and over the bone jarring cobbles.  

So it was that only two of them, on their last legs nonetheless, Van Aert and Pogacar, both having rejoined the action after delays, raced into the lead together over the final kilometres.

Then to fight it out  on the velodrome where Van Aert put a couple of lengths into his rival who for once struggled to find an answer.

Bad luck for Van der Poel, who had been attacking at the front when he punctured twice in the Arenberg cobbled sector and needed three bike changes.

So Van der Poel, bidding for a fourth consecutive Paris – Roubaix in race pitched as a duel between him and Pogacar seeking his first here, was cruelly denied. He had attacked off the front while Pogacar was chasing back from earlier bike changes which occurred with 120km to go. That he made it back to take over at the head of race as Van Der Poel had his turn of misfortune, may not have surprised us, but clearly the effort ate into  his reserves.

Pogacar had hoped that victory in Roubaix  would complete his set of five monuments to go with his victories in Milan San Remo Tour of Flanders, Liege-Bastogne-Liege and the Tour of Lombardy. It was not to be.

It was Never Say Die Van Aert who at last dealt Pog the killer blow, so denying the phenomenon of the Tour de France and Classic road races from taking a cherished prize.

During his career
Van Aert has won over fifty professional road wins including ten stage victories at the  Tour de France betweem 2019 and 2025, plus the green jersey of points classification in 2022.. He won the 2023 Tour of Britain.

He also won  Milan–San Remo in 2020 and was third this year. The media declared him to be the most complete cyclist of his generation".

His  rivalry with Mathieu van der Poel in cyclo-has seen one of the greatest rivalries in the sport.

Belgium's finest brutally destroyed by Pogacar in Flanders epic

 

You know this of course. I merely add a few words of my own, to keep up with the fairy story which leaves us all, including the other World Tour riders spellbound and us couch potatoes glued to the TV, reaching for another a beer  - Belgian this time,  of course.

And yes, Tadej Pogacar crushed his four main rivals – all four of them classics winners, world and Olympics champions in their own right – to win his third Tour of Flanders on Sunday.

It was his 11th “Monument” victory (correction, 12) of his career, adding to his first win this year in Milan – San Remo, and before that, his fourth Strada Bianchi.

Never before have we seen a world road race champion demonstrate such crushing superiority week after week.  Be it in his four Tour de France victories so far, or the classics he chooses to ride to  win.  Such unearthly power, such sudden bursts of acceleration to leave rivals, at best clinging on for a while, before being blown away.

There were no tactics in Flanders, one of the most difficult of the five Monuments, one of the biggest road classics, and Belgian’s biggest race of all. Philippe Gilbert in 2017 was the last home winner.

Could either Wout Van Aert or Remco Evenpoel be the next?

It was not to be.

A monumental brutal show of brute strength by Pogacar at the end of this 278-kilometre marathon though the Ardennes saw to that.

In the fifth hour, after the early breakaway was caught, with some 60km to go, Pogacar simply attacked and, as commander of the sizeable group which was quick enough to go with him, he began to weed them out in the wind and on the terrible cobbled climbs which included three ascents of the most difficult of them all, the Oude Kwaremont where most damage was done. 

In the end only five were left at the head of the race. Then there was only one, Himself. Pogacar as expected was tearing along and going further away from his opponents, as if propelled by a gale.

Two times winner Mathieu Van Der Poel, Olympic road champion Remco Evenpoel, the Belgian favourite Wout Van Aert and Mads Pedersen, were outgunned. Is executed too strong a word?  And so Pogacar powered away to victory. 

Suitably, these four main challengers – big names all - rolled in to the finish in splendid isolation in his wake. One by one they took their curtain calls from the crowd applauding their efforts, futile it must be said. Van Der Poel, second; Evenpoel third; Van Aert fourth; Pedersson fifth.

Pogacar embraced them all, smiling at them, after another nice day out.  Of them all he appeared to have been most wary of Evenpoel, admitting he knows that the world time trial champion and Olympic road champion can find that extra kick at the line if allowed to stay.

A few moments after finishing, Van Aert, with a broad grin, leaned in close to Pogacar and said something.

Probably: “Look, how much do you want not to start Paris-Roubaix next Sunday?

Van der Poel won last year, with Pogacar second on his debut,  after a flat tyre.

Bring it on. Paris-Roubaix, April 12.